Chapter Five
Everything around Grace seemed hazy. Something wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
She stared down at the beautiful man as he carefully wrapped her foot in the bandage. Her breath quickened in her chest as his warm rough hands held the back of her calf, his fingers brushing against her sensitive skin.
Her foot was sore, but he did a good job of wrapping it.
Vitus stopped after wrapping her foot and looked up to where she sat. His eyes were such a deep penetrating blue that she gasped at the color. She couldn’t really say why they shocked her, but they felt like the most natural color in the world on him.
Wait. His eyes weren’t blue. They were brown. Again, she took note of the haziness, wondering what was going on.
A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. One she’d seen from him over and over. Like some secret joke that she’d missed.
Her heart hammered in her chest and already she could feel her center go slick. She sucked in a deep breath. She’d never felt this way around a man before.
Vitus raised a brow. “I think I know how to make this all better,” he said, sliding his hand slowly up her leg.
Her mouth ran dry. Grace licked her lips and watched as his eyes flashed a blazingly bright blue at her.
It should have shocked or at least surprised her, but a man flirting with her with eyes glowing felt so natural, right, and almost expected.
“Why don’t you let me show you?” Vitus murmured.
His mouth closed on hers, and she gasped against his lips as his tongue made its way into her mouth, teasing her until she could hardly catch her breath.
Vitus pulled back, his hands still moving up her legs until they had pushed her long skirt all the way up her thighs, exposing her white panties. Her breathing grew ragged.
Grace could feel the heat as it spread across her face and from her center.
No, no, no. She closed her eyes and shook her head. This couldn’t be real. This was a dream. A glorious dream, but still a dream.
“Lean back,” Vitus whispered in her ear.
It was a dream, Grace told herself again as she leaned back. Just because it was a dream didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy it.
His fingers skimmed over the fabric at her center, lightly touching her there.
She shuddered under his touch. Grace might not have any experience, but she knew what this was and how great it could feel. It was something she’d done on her own many times. Recently, she’d even touched herself a lot more thinking about the handsome man now haunting her dreams.
Vitus pressed firmly at the juncture between her legs, sliding his finger up and down. Just enough to drive her crazy.
“Please,” she moaned.
Grace heard a soft laugh and sighed when his finger slipped around her panties and slid between her slick folds. He moved faster, his fingers moving quickly over her tender nub, bringing her to the brink.
She bucked at his movements and groaned loudly as the first wave of her orgasm washed over her.
“Vitus,” she moaned.
Grace awoke with a start in her bed, her body twisted in the covers around her and still panting over the orgasm she’d just had. Her body was on fire in a way that she’d never felt before.
She gasped. It’d just been a dream, but she’d actually climaxed. She shook her head, confused and still aroused.
Grace knew that she liked Vitus. As much as she tried to tell herself that she didn’t, it was hard to deny the sexual tension hanging in the air between the two of them. Of course, that could all be in her head. It wasn’t like she had enough experience to even know.
With a sigh, she pulled back the covers on the bed and shivered at the chill in the air. The nights seemed to be colder than any she’d remembered as a child. She slipped her feet into the slippers by the side of the bed and grabbed the warm robe on the chair next to her.
Despite the low temperatures, she hated wearing anything but summer nightgowns when she slept. Grace had always been one to toss and turn in her sleep. Anything too covering she would end up pulling off in the middle of the night.
Still flushed from her dream, Grace made her way into the kitchen and filled a glass with cold water from the faucet. The clear liquid quenched her parched lips. She leaned against the counter in the darkness, still feeling the effects of the mind-blowing orgasm as her center throbbed.
It had been such a good dream she’d almost hated waking from it. Considering the Shadow Man and the darkness that normally haunted her, this was a welcome change. Something she hadn’t had in a while.
A chill swept over her as the other dreams came back to her. The black man in the shadows, chasing her. He laughed as she ran, letting her fall and scrape herself against the hard earth. They felt just as real as the one with Vitus, but in all the wrong ways.
The Shadow Man never caught her. He always stayed just out of sight, but she knew that when he did finally decide to show himself, that would be the end of her. There was no question in her mind when it came to that.
She frowned as an eerie feeling crept over her, washing out any piece of her that might have been reveling in her previous dream.
Her stomach tightened. She thought she was awake, but this feeling seeping through her was just like that in the nightmares where she found herself running through the woods.
It wasn’t something she could explain, but she could feel the presence there with her. Not a thought, something actually there. Something evil that lurked in the shadows.
Grace’s heart hammered.
Something creaked in the living room. It sounded like a footstep against the aged wooden floor.
She wasn’t awake. It was still a dream. The Shadow Man had only tricked her into thinking she was awake to take her off-guard.
Another creak of the floor board sounded, and she dropped the glass she was holding to bolt for the back door. The glass crashed to the floor just as she reached the handle.
Her hands shook violently as she flipped the lock on the door, not even daring to look behind her as she did so for fear he would be standing there.
The door flew open, and she gasped in surprise. Two bright blue eyes stared back at her.
“Vitus,” she said, his name almost a whisper.
Instantly Grace wrapped her arms around him and felt the eerie presence shift away.
“I heard you say my name and then the crash,” he said after a moment.
Grace leaned back and stared up at the amazing man in front of her. He’d saved her. She wasn’t sure what the real Vitus would have done in that situation, likely laughed at how absurd she was being, but dream Vitus had been her protector.
She stood on her toes and placed a soft kiss against his lips, savoring just how very soft and masculine they were this time. Maybe she’d gotten better at imagining just what he would taste like.
Mint. Just the faintest hint.
Her tongue slid along the seam of his lips, and she groaned when his tongue met hers to twine in her mouth.
He was forceful this time. More so than the last. Already she could feel herself getting excited once again. She shoved the Shadow Man as far out of her mind as she could. For once she was going to enjoy herself. Even if it were all in a dream, especially since it seemed and felt even more real than before.